Funfetti Cake

Funfetti Cake From Scratch That Will Quickly Become The Go-To Birthday Cake For All Your Friends And Family

Funfetti cake is a delicious vanilla cake with brightly colored sprinkles mixed in. This tasty cake made from my scratch white cake recipe pairs perfectly with smooth and creamy easy buttercream and makes the perfect cake for a birthday celebration!

Birthday Cake

Funfetti cake is the cake recipe that everyone needs to have in their recipe box. Nothing says “It’s a special day” like funfetti! Must be something about brightly colored sprinkles. I have made this exact cake for so many occasions and I am always amazed at the pure love it gets.

Part of what makes my funfetti cake so yummy is that the base is my ever popular white cake recipe. The crumb is delicate and fine and just melts in your mouth. I use farm fresh eggs, high quality butter and really good vanilla so that I get the most flavor possible into this cake.

The whole cake is layered up with my creamy dreamy easy buttercream and drizzled with a bright pink layer of water ganache (or you can use regular ganache). A few more swirls of buttercream and some sprinkles and your cake is done! You don’t have to be a professional cake decorator to make a great birthday cake. The most important thing is that you made it with love and it tastes amazing!

How To Make Funfetti Cake From Scratch

When you bake from scratch it’s super important to bring your eggs, milk and butter to room temp. If you’re like me you ALWAYS forget to do this ahead of time so I’ll give you my cheats. I put my eggs in a bowl of warm tap water for 5 minutes to warm them up.

Then I nuke my milk for exactly 40 seconds. Why do I know 40 seconds? Because when my little girl was a baby thats exactly how long it took to warm her bottle up so it was warm enough to drink but not too hot. Your microwave may be more powerful though so best to start with 20 seconds and see where you’re at. Should feel neither warm nor cold.

If your butter is cold then cut it into small cubes and nuke for 10 seconds or leave at room temp for 10 minutes.

If you don’t bring your ingredients up to room temp then a whole lot of stuff can go wrong. Your batter can curdle (or break) which can cause the cake to fall in the center. When you cut it you might see a wet layer forming at the bottom of the cake. That’s the fat separating from the liquids and settling during baking.

I tend to use rainbow “jimmies” for most of my funfetti cakes but little rainbow nonperils also work really well. I definitely would not recommend using really chunky or large sprinkles because they can settle to the bottom of the pan while baking instead of being suspended in the batter.

After my cakes are baked, I let them cool for a bit but while still warm I wrap them in plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge to chill. Once the cakes are chilled I trim off the brown edges of the cakes on the sides, top and bottom. This just makes the cakes slices extra pretty when you cut into the cake.

When I am stacking my layers, I try to make my buttercream nice and even in thickness. Don’t skimp on your filling.

Next comes the crumb coat. Just a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake to seal in any spare crumbs getting into the final layer of buttercream. Chill the whole cake again for 15 minutes to set the buttercream then another layer goes on. I use a bench scraper to get nice straight sides and an offset spatula to flatten the top and I’m crazy OCD but don’t stress about perfection.

I am still obsessed with drip cakes so I made some bright pink water ganache to drip over the edges. The water ganache goes into a piping bag with a round tip to do the drip but you can also use a spoon. Then just spread out some more water ganache over the top of the cake and some more sprinkles. Place a few simple swirls of buttercream on top and that’s all you need!

Funfetti Cake Frosting

You can definitely up the “fun” in funfetti by adding some sprinkles into your frosting but to me the fun is when you cut into your cake and see those pops of color from the sprinkles. Some great frostings that taste great with funfetti cake is easy buttercream which is light, fluffy and not too sweet or American buttercream which is sweeter and a favorite for kids. You can also go with stabilized whipped cream for a super light frosting. Keep in mind that whipped cream must be kept refrigerated.

My daughter’s favorite part of the cake is the buttercream and I love that she even calls it buttercream. Teach em’ young right? This is a pic of my daughter right after the cake photoshoot. She stands quietly behind the backdrop until I hand her the slice. Her “reward” for being patient. She always goes straight for that buttercream.

Funfetti Cupcakes

This recipe works great for cakes and cupcakes. I fill my cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full so that the batter fills the liner but doesn’t over fill it. A quick swirl of buttercream frosting and some sprinkles and you’re done! This recipe makes about 24 funfetti cupcakes.

Funfetti Cake Tutorial

Do you want to learn how to make this funfetti cake with pink drip? Check out my video tutorial in the recipe below I did with my daughter. She had a great time “helping” aka dropping sprinkles all over the floor but I admit it was worth it.

Instructions

Cake Instructions

Place butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on medium until mixture is light and fluffy

Add in egg whites one at a time (roughly) and let fully combine after each addition before adding the next.

Add in 1/3 of your dry ingredients and let combine. Add in 1/2 of your liquids, then dry, then liquids and the rest of your dry. Let mix until just combined.

Fold in your sprinkles. Don't over mix.

Add batter into prepared cake pans. sprinkle more sprinkles on top of the cake batter if desired. bake at 325 degrees F for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center.

Let cool ten minutes then turn out cakes onto a cooling rack. Wrap warm and place into the freezer to flash chill. This locks in the moisture. Once cool but not frozen you can then trim off the brown edges of your cakes and frost as desired.

Water Ganache Instructions

Melt chocolate in microwave or in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water (bane marie) and add in water. Whisk until combined. Add food coloring if desired. Let cool to 90 degrees (Should feel slightly cool to the touch but still liquid) and drip over your frosted and chilled cake.

Easy Buttercream Instructions

Place egg whites and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment. Whisk to combine. Add in butter in small chunks then vanilla and salt. Whip on high until light and fluffy and white. Optional: switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes until all air bubbles are gone.

Optional: switch to paddle attachment and let mix on low for 15 minutes to get all the air bubbles out. Frost cake as desired.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Learn to make this tasty funfetti birthday cake with easy buttercream and water ganache drip!

Hi Liz! Just wondering if I should use cake flour or AP flour cause I’m video you used cake flour but written recipe says AP flour. Thanks.

Sorry about that, the written recipe is correct

Vanessa Hsays:

Hi Liz can you tell me the brand of rainbow jimmies u use? I live in Saudi Arabia and the ones I find here jus desintegrate in the cake leaving no color. If you tell me I can order from amazon or buy them where ever u tell me. Thank u in advance. Kisses from de desert 🐫

Kelleysays:

Hello! In your description you stated you can use either jimmies or nonpareils, but I just saw in your comments you stated not to use nonpareils. I have a huge bag of nonpareils I was hoping to use for this cake, but now I’m not sure they will work. I have not had luck with funfetti cakes. The sprinkles always sink to the bottom. Thank you so much! Kelley

Please use a scale for measuring or the recipe may not turn out and all those ingredients wasted 🙂 A scale can be purchased at most grocery stores for less than $20

Jennifersays:

For the 10 oz milk and 2 oz vegetable oil, is that weighted ounces or fluid ounces? I am making this cake tomorrow (9/21) for a baby shower and am so excited to try it out and don’t want to mess it up! 😬

Do you think this recipe would be an ideal base for a cherry chip cake? If I sub sprinkles with rehydrated chopped cherries or maraschino cherries that have been drained well and chopped.

I don’t know for sure since I’ve never made that type of cake 🙂

Jessica Lycholat Cainsays:

Why use AP flour with this recipe rather than the cake flour? I recently made a 2 tier cake, one layer this funfetti and one layer your vanilla. The client questioned why the textures were so different and not the same. They said the funfetti was too dense compared to the light vanilla. Thanks so much!! You’re recipes are amazing!! Appreciate you!!